On 16 June 2008, UNICEF specialist Yang Zhenbo checks the water supply in Shifang County, Sichuan Province. The earthquake destroyed over 34,000 water distribution facilities and damaged nearly 30,000 km of the water network, affecting millions of people.

People living in makeshift communities in quake-hit Mianzhu of Sichuan Province have access to clean drinking water. In the emergency relief period, UNICEF provided water treatment units, purification tablets, and mobile toilets to the worst-hit areas.

A UNICEF-assisted permanent water supply system is providing 2,190 people with safe and clean water in Luming Village of Cifeng Town, Sichuan Province.

In mid-July 2008, a girl washes her hair at a tent relocation camp in Leigu Town, Beichuan County, Sichuan Province. UNICEF procured 20 portable water treatment units to provide clean water for up to 200,000 people in the worst-hit counties.

In the emergency period, UNICEF delivered 100 mobile toilets to schools and communities in the worst-affect areas, which could be used by 10,000 people per day.

In March 2009, a local officer maintains the water purification units that have become part of the permanent water supply system in Qingchuan County, Sichuan Province. One year after the quake, UNICEF`s emergency supplies continue to make a difference.

A UNICEF-provided permanent water supply system at Guihua Village, Sichuan Province. In the recovery period, UNICEF is working in the rural areas of 9 counties to support the rehabilitation and construction of water supply systems.

Luo Yiyun, 10, from Guihua Village in Qingchuan County, Sichuan Province, washes her face with piped water at home. She no longer has to fetch water from an old well, as she did in the months after the earthquake destroyed the village water supply system.

Families in Guihua Village had to use a dug well for months after the quake. "My parents would stay up until midnight to get water," recalled Yiyun. "I used a basin of water to wash my face and then my feet. I could only take a bath once a week."

Now, getting clean water is as easy as turning on the faucet in the courtyard after UNICEF helped to rehabilitate the water supply system.

Luo Yiyun washes hands with her classmates at the boarding school she attends, about 5 km away from home. UNICEF is providing children like Yiyun with clean water, both at home and at school.

On a sunny day, students from Zhaizi Village in Qingchuan County, Sichuan Province, play ping pong during recess. UNICEF has worked with local counterparts to rehabilitate safe water supply to the schools and communities.

Children use clean water at a school in Lueyang County of Shaanxi Province.

A girl hands over a hygiene kit to her mother at a relocation community in Beichuan County, Sichuan Province. UNICEF has provided hygiene kits for children and their families, benefiting 17,500 children and 35,000 adults.